


Tomorrow Never Dies

by IcyDayDreamer



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, England (Country), F/M, One direction AU, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies, one direction - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2018-09-25 21:57:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9847751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyDayDreamer/pseuds/IcyDayDreamer
Summary: Nothing could have prepared us for the end. Nothing could have protected us. I remember when the worst thing we needed protection from was overly excited and energetic fans. In some ways Chompers remind me of the fans in the way their hands reach out for you. The only difference fans don't try to kill you and they way they scream. Fans scream because they want more. Chompers scream and it's unearthly, unnatural. They're after you. Always one step behind you. No place to stay. No place to rest. Someday they'll catch us. Someday we'll be dead. If there's one thing I can promise you it's this: I'm not going down without a fight. I will always keeping fight because there are somethings worth fighting for. I think I preferred the fans._____________________________________________________________________This is a story that I started posting on Wattpad but it didn't really any sort of notice so I've decided to try it out on here. Hopefully you all will like it. Thankies





	1. Running

There was no time for thinking. Just running. No matter how much your lungs burned and your legs ached. There was no choice aside from running or dying. But, then again, there was also being dead but not actually being dead, of course. It was easy to run, to forget about the aches and pains, when you had something to be afraid of. The inhuman growls from behind weren't the worst part, though. No, the worst part was that it was getting harder to out run them so they kept getting closer.

"Run!" Harry shouted, which, in hind sight, was pretty useless. They were running and had been for what felt like an eternity.

Niall, running few feet to Harry's left, made the mistake of looking back over his shoulder at their pursuers. His foot caught on something in the grass and he tripped, sliding down the hill. "Ah!" he screamed, holding onto his foot.

"Zayn, come help me with Niall!" Harry yelled as he ran back to his fallen mate. Panic, worse than he had been feeling before, set in as he skidded to a halt at Niall's side. Their pursuers were closing in fast.

When Zayn had joined him, they each threw one of Niall's arms over their shoulders and half dragged, half carried him as fast as they could back up the hill. Having to go back and help Niall had set them well back behind their other two friends, who hadn't noticed that of their comrades had fallen. Their pursuers were closer now. Really close. So close, in fact, that the three of them could smell their rotting and decaying flesh. It was hard to see the way that things used to be with the way they were now. Everything had changed so suddenly.

"Look!" Liam yelled from the front of the group, pointing. They had found themselves running on a path that led to a large brick wall with a tall iron gate. Safety. Probably not for long but maybe long enough for them to catch their breath. Maybe. It was better than nothing.

"It's open!" Liam called when he reached the gate. "C'mon!" He held it open and waved his hands for them to hurry.

The other four boys did their best to put on speed but they were nearing the end of their rope and losing the last of their strength. Zayn lost his footing on the treacherous grass and tripped. The loss of Zayn's added strength made Niall feel really heavy to Harry and made him off balance. No time to try to help Zayn, Harry nearly toppled too before he manages to heave Niall over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Ah!" Zayn screamed as one their undead pursuers fell upon him before he had a chance to get back to his feet. He kicked out, striking it in the head then began scrambling backward like a crab. Noticing that his friend was in trouble, Louis ran to save him. He lashed out at one them with his crowbar, hitting it in the head and sending in rolling down hill, as Zayn managed to get to his feet. The one Louis hit tumbled into the others and they fell like bowling pins.

"Strike!" Louis shouted, laughing maniacally. Zayn grabbed his arm and they started running to the gate, easily catching up Harry.

"Here give him to me," Louis demanded, not even waiting for Harry to respond before he took Niall away and carried him over his shoulder.

The loss of Niall's weight was an amazing relief to Harry and he was able to push himself harder. Almost there, almost there, almost there, almost there. . .

"Hurry!" Liam encouraged, getting ready to close the gate behind them once they all got through. "You're almost there!"

Surprisingly, even while carrying Niall, Louis was still faster than Harry and made it through the gate along with Zayn.

Five steps. Five steps that was all Harry had left. But before he could go those last five steps, he fell.

"Shit," he cursed as he scrapped palms on the loose gravel. He tried to scramble to his feet but before he could one of the undead freaks dropped down and latched onto his shoe. He rolled over, kicking the creatures in the head so the heel of his boot collided with its nose, resulting in a sickening crunch. It held on. He lashed out with his free boot and struck in the side of its head then yanked on the other foot. It lost its grip. He scrambled for his feet, a hand reaching out to help him up. The creature snagged his foot again, knocking him back to the ground scraping his hands again.

"Ah!" He screamed trying to once again fight it off. Strong hands grabbed his shoulders and yanked him backwards through the gate. He screamed again and tried to fight before he realized that is was just Liam. Zayn stepped forward and smacked the creature in the head with Louis' crowbar. It crumpled, dark red blood spilling out and staining the ground.

Harry and Zayn held the gate shut as Liam quickly pulled the bicycle chain and pad lock out of his backpack and locked it. They stepped back and stared as more undead creatures made it to the gate. First ramming into to it and then just standing there growling and snarling as they tried to reach through the bars towards them. One by one the boys sat down on the ground, gasping for air, as they stared at what the rest of humanity was turning into. There was no denying it now the apocalypse was here.


	2. Flash Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A glimpse into how it all got started.

Flashback

"Hey, Harry," Louis called over the noise of the crowed airport. "Look!"  
When Harry looked up from his phone, which for some unknown reason had no signal, Louis threw a paper ball at him. It got him in the forehead and bounced off, landing on the floor by his feet.  
"Stop doing that, Louis," he snapped, straightening up in his seat. He was beginning to get uncomfortable from sitting so long.  
"Ha-ha, you always fall for that," Louis laughed, clapping his hands together.  
"Hey, do any you know when our flight is supposed to be leaving?" Niall asked, leaning forward in his seat with his elbows on his knees.  
"Yep, about fifteen minutes ago," Liam said in a fact-of-fact tone.  
Niall looked startled.  
"He means that it's running late," Zayn explained.  
"Oh," Niall glared at Liam.  
"Hey, I was just making a funny," he protested.  
"It wasn't funny," Harry said, shaking his head.  
"Oh, like you know how be funny,"  
"I do," Louis piped up, looking very serious. "And it wasn't funny. You know that poor Niall is clueless and easily confused."  
The blond Irish was nodding along with him before he suddenly stopped and shot him a look. "Hey!"  
"Oh, c'mon," Liam said, throwing his hands up. "I'm funny!"  
"I, for one, am hoping that it doesn't take too much longer," Zayn said, changing the subject.  
"That would be nice," Harry agreed, chuckling as he glanced down at his watch. "It's really late and it might be more comfortable to sleep during the flight."  
"I don't know," Lou said, stretching his feet across Liam and Zayn's laps. "These chairs are pretty nice when you lay in them like this."  
Zayn wrinkled his nose in disgust, shoving Louis' feet off his lap. Liam gave his legs a shove also and Louis ended up rolling onto the floor.  
"Hey!" Lou protested then grunted. "Oof!"  
"Um. . ." A soft, squeaky voice said. "Excuse me."  
It was a girl. She was small and looked around five or six with light brown shoulder length hair, soft hazel eyes, and freckles speckled across her cheeks.  
"Yes?" Harry asked, smiling at her.  
"You guys are One Direction, right?" she gives him a small smile in return, revealing a single dimple on her right cheek. Harry noticed as she fidgets nervously with the hem of her pink 'Hello Kitty' shirt with one hand and holding a red crayon and a piece of blank paper in the other.  
"Yep," Louis said, springing up off the floor which startled the girl into taking a step back. "That's us!"  
"Uh. . ." she said, looking scared and uncertain.  
"It's okay," Harry said soothingly. He was used to dealing with nervous or shy fans.  
"I was—uh. . ." she stared down at her feet, "wondering if I could have your autographs. Please?"  
"Why certainly," Louis said, going cross eyed and making his voice sound squeaky. Lou's way of trying to get a fan to relax was to make them laugh and forget their nerves. It wasn't working well with this particular little girl, however.  
"Thanks," she attempted to giggle but it sounded forced as she stared with uncertainty at Louis. She held out her paper and crayon and, nervously, played with her fingers as it was passed from boy to boy.  
"So, what's your name?" Harry asked as he quickly scrawled his name onto the paper.  
"Susie," she replied, her cheeks going a light rosy red.  
"Well, here you go, Susie," he smiled, handing the paper back to her.  
She stared down at it in awe before hugging it to her chest, giggling. "Thank you," she sang, grinning. For a moment, she had lost her nervousness. "You guys are amazing."  
"No prob," Lou said, grinning.  
"You're very welcome," Liam said graciously.  
"Any time," Zayn said with a two fingered salute.  
A smile tugged at Harry's lips as he stared down at his feet, trying to figure out something to say. He was at a loss. It was always this way when it came to getting compliments from a fan. There was really just never anything really good or right to say that would at explain it all.  
But it was moments like these that the five boys loved the most. Seeing a fan smile and be happy, knowing that they were the reason behind it. There was literally no better feeling in the world.  
"Thanks for being a fan," Niall said then dug around in his backpack for moment looking for something. "Do you want a cookie?"  
"Uh, yes, please," Susie said and he handed her an Oreo cookie.  
"Can I have one too?" Louis begged, giving him his best puppy-dog eyes and boo-boo lip.  
"Mine," Niall snapped, glaring at him as he zipped his bag of cookies back into his pack.  
"Aw, man," Louis pouted, crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly.  
"Where are your parents, Susie?" Harry asked, turning his attention back to the little girl.  
"Over there," She pointed down the long rows of seats. There were many seats and quite a few of them were occupied. Harry couldn't figure out the place where she was pointing.  
"How about I walk you back so you don't get lost in the crowd?" he suggested, holding his hand out to her.  
"Oh, okay," tentatively she put her hand in his. Her hand was tiny compared to his and surprisingly very cold.  
He held her gently hand but firm so he wouldn't lose her as he and her weaved their way in the general direction of where she had pointed.  
"Mommy!" the little girl suddenly shrieked as her hand slipped from Harry's. There was a women lying convulsing on the floor with white foam gurgling up from her mouth. Three people were at her side trying to hold her down as her arms suddenly jerked and her legs kicked out. Her eyes were rolled back into her head.  
Susie ran toward the women but one of the people who had been holding the women down snatched her up into his arms.  
"No, Susie," he said, trying to be reassuring but it was clear that he was tense and uncertain. "Everything will be okay. Don't look. You hear me? Don't look, she'll be fine. She's just sick."  
Susie cried into his shoulder, holding tightly to the paper in her hands. The man was tall, clean shaven, and wore a white coat.  
"Are you Susie's dad?" Harry asked, feeling woozy. The sight of the women was unsettling.  
The man holding Susie looked at him. There was something about the look that made him uncomfortable.  
"I am," the man finally said.  
"Are you a doctor?" Harry gestured to the white coat he was wearing.  
"No," he said. Harry didn't think that he was gonna elaborate from the tone of his voice but eventually he continued, saying, "I'm a scientist."  
"Oh," he sneaked a glance at the woman on the floor. She must have been strong because the other two people were having a hard time holding her down. "What's wrong with her Rabies?"  
The man laughed without humor. "No, it's not rabies."  
Harry waited for him to say more but he just stood there rubbing circles on Susie's back and saying nothing.  
Feeling awkward, Harry turned and headed back to his seat. He glanced once over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of Susie staring after him.  



	3. The Mansion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Safe. . . Or so they thought

"Is everybody okay?" Liam asked, having to raise his voice a little to be heard over the growling creatures.

"I am," Harry said, he lying in the grass resting, "okay." He gave Liam thumbs up.

"I'm great," Louis chirped, smiling. "Not bad for nearly getting eaten alive."

Everybody pretty much ignored him.

"I'm good," Zayn said with his head in his hands. "Can we go rest somewhere else? Those fucking monsters are giving me a headache."

"Niall, you okay?" Liam asked, touching the blonde Irish gently on the shoulder.

He jumped. "I—uh. . . Oh, uh. . . "He mumbled, wincing. "I don't think I can walk," he eventually admitted.

"That's okay," Louis said, encouragingly. "You can just put your arm around my shoulder and I'll help you."

"Is your ankle broken?" Liam asked.

"I don't think so," Niall replied. "It would be swollen if it was."

"Twisted maybe?" Zayn offered.

"It doesn't feel like I twisted it," he shook his head. "It just feels sore and I can't figure out what's wrong."

"It also looks oddly limp," Harry noted, propping himself up on his elbows.

"That too,"

"So, what do we do now?" Zayn asked, looking at their surroundings. The wall went almost as far as the eye could see in either direction. Not that you could see very far with all the trees surrounding them, however.

"Following the path seems like the best option," Liam said, standing up and sling his backpack over his shoulder.

"Follow the yellow dirt road," Louis sang. "Follow, follow, oh! We're following the yellow dirt road!"

Liam ignored him. "Zayn, think you can also carry Niall's pack?"

"Yeah," Zayn said, sounding a little unsure. "Why?"

"It might make Louis' job of helping Niall easier," Liam explained in a matter-of-fact tone like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'll also carry Louis' pack," offered Harry, feeling a little unwilling to get up from the nice soft grass but stood up anyways.

"Thanks H," Louis said, handing over his pack.

"No prob," Harry shouldered it grunting. "Lou, what do you have in here? Bricks? It weighs a ton."

"Nothing much," Louis chuckled in that weird way he had as he helped Niall to his feet. It was strange how even during the end of the world Louis still found everything funny. "Just the essentials."

As a group, with Liam in the lead and Louis and Niall taking up the rear, they walked along the path. A cool breeze blew through, rustling the trees. Somewhere nearby birds chirped and sang. There was a flash of reddish brown as a squirrel dashed up a tree. It was almost like the apocalypse had been everywhere but here. Even so, every little sound made the boys jumpy as they scanned the trees around them. They may not have been prepared for what the world was turning into but they had learned to stay on their guard. You never know when something might want to eat you.

"Wow," Liam said when they finally broke through all the trees and found themselves in a clearing.

"What?" Louis asked as he finally joined everyone else to stand stare at the large house before them. 

It actually looked more like an early Victorian style mansion. It was as beautiful as it was huge.

"Is it safe?" Niall asked, staring at it warily. He was sweating from exertion and looked a little paler than normal.

"Let's go find out," Harry said, but Liam grabbed his shoulder making him halt mid-stride.

"Wait," Liam said. "There might be someone living there."

"What?" Harry asked, looking confused. "The world is collapsing so we shouldn't trust other people?"

"Do you not remember that last people we ran into?" Zayn said, crossing his arms. "And I'm not talking about the undead ones. I'm talking about the ones who held us all at gun point so that they could take our packs."

"Okay, yeah. I remember," Harry amended, staring down at his feet. "We were lucky that before that happened Niall had lost his and we found it afterwards. Otherwise, things would have been a lot harder than they were on us."

"My point exactly," Liam said.

"I still miss my baseball bat," Louis muttered, before twirling the crowbar around in his hand. "But I like this just the same." As usual, everyone ignored him.

"Could you be careful," Niall said, flinching, "and not hit me with that thing?"

"Sorry," Louis stopped twirling the crowbar.

"Alright then so what do we do?" Harry asked. "Try the front door? Sneak in? What?"

"Let's just try to take this slow and cautiously," Liam said. "We'll look around it first and then assess our options from there. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Louis, Harry, and Zayn nodded their heads.

"Uh. . . Not agreed," Niall mumbled. "I don't feel too good. That walk up the path was awful and I wasn't even doing all the walking."

"Louis, would you mind staying here with Niall while we take a look around?" Liam asked.

"Oh, great," Louis said sarcastically. "Why do I have to be the one to miss out on all the fun?"

"Because you volunteered to help Niall,"

"Yeah, but—"

"No buts. You're staying here."

Louis eased him and Niall to the ground, grumbling under his breath but not making any further move to argue. He didn't like it but early on they had all voted Liam to be the leader of the group since he was good at making decisions. He had technically been the leader before everything turned into chaos so it wasn't that big of a deal having him be one now.

Harry sat Louis' pack beside him on the grass. "Just in case," he said before following after Liam and Zayn. He actually felt a little uncomfortable leaving them by themselves without much protection aside from Lou's crowbar. But what other choice did they have?

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The grounds of the mansion were extensive. There was a fountain that wasn't working in front of it with a dark reddish brown liquid sitting in the basin. They looked around the front of the mason, at the huge covered porch and the lion statues, but didn't go near the door. Liam said that they would try opening it later if they didn't have any other choices.

When they had walked to the back of the house they found another fountain, a large barn off in the distance, huge eight-foot tall hedges with an entrance into it.

"It looks like a maze," Zayn noted.

"Let's check it out," Harry suggested.

"Let's not," Liam said. "It could be dangerous."

"I don't know if you noticed this," Harry said irritably. "But everything nowadays is dangerous."

"Not a risk that I'm willing to take just yet," Liam snapped. "Not until we find what we're looking for and know what we're up against."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Looking for what?"

"Signs of life," Liam said simply.

"Uh, guys," Zayn said, suddenly going tense. "We have company."

"Wha?" Harry asked turning in the direction Zayn was facing. "Oh. . ."

"Drop to your knees with your hands on your head," a girl snapped, carrying a gun in both hands. One was pointed at them and the other was prodding Louis and Niall in the back. "And set your packs on the ground."

"Hey, guys," Louis said with one arm around Niall to support him and the other on his head. "How's it going?"


	4. Friend or Foe?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Staying alive. For now. . .

Harry, Zayn, and Liam stared at them in a stunned silence as they did as they were told.

"Shut up," The girl growled, kicking Louis in the shin.

"Ow," Louis groaned, jumping up and down on one leg and nearly toppling over with Niall.

"Whoa. . ." Niall groaned, looking woozy, his breathing in a series of labored pants. "I don't feel too good." Suddenly all the color drained from his face, his eyes rolled back, and his good leg gave out from under him.

"Holy shit," Louis said, stumbling again as he lost his grip on the blonde who dropped limply to the ground.

"Niall," Harry cried, forgetting about the girl with the gun as he lunged from his kneeing position to his friend's side.

"Hey!" girl shouted, shoving Louis to ground as she suddenly kicked Harry in the chest. He fell back onto the grass as the air whooshed from his lungs. The girl stood over, gun pointed at his face with the other at Louis. Liam moved slightly and she moved the one that was pointed at Louis and pointed it at him. Liam stilled.

She looked unsure of which two out of the four boys who were still conscious to point her weapons at. She glared, pointing both at Harry.

"Move," she warned, glancing at Louis, Liam, and Zayn in turn before glancing down at Harry, "and I'll shoot."

Harry stared down the two gun barrels, breathing heavily. His chest really hurt and he wondered if he had a broken rib. He looked away from the handguns to stare at the girl. She looked about seventeen or eighteen with long reddish brown hair and large blue eyes. Even though she was threatening to shoot him, Harry had to admit that she gorgeous. Her whole demeanor was cold and indifferent but as Harry stared her eyes down, he suddenly realized that she wouldn't shoot them. Not if she could help it.

"Please," he said, softly.

"What?" she asked bewildered, looking down at him sharply.

"Please," he said again, keeping his voice gentle. "Please, let me help my friend. He's been hurt."

She stared down at him with uncertainty. She was trying to be furious and cold, but Harry could see the fear in her eyes.

"Has he been bit?" she eventually asked.

He shook his head as best he could while lying on his back in the grass. "No, it's his foot," he replied, biting his bottom lip. "We don't know what's wrong. We need help."

"Help?" she searched his gaze.

"Harry," Zayn hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Shut up!" she snapped, lifting a gun to point it at him.

Zayn glared at Harry but kept his mouth shut. His jaw muscles flexing as he gritted his teeth.

She stared at Zayn a few minutes before turning her attention back to Harry. She stared into his eyes like she was trying to see into his soul. He let her, trying to reveal as much of the pain, fear, and worry he felt within his eyes. Including, some of the sadness and guilt that he had felt ever since the incident in the airport. It was hard for him to open up and become that vulnerable to someone he didn't even know the name of. But he had to it for Niall, his friend.

Harry watched as the guns pointed at him wavered then dropped completely. She offered him her hand which he took. She helped him to his feet but before she let his hand go, she squeezed it really tight as she stared him dead in the eyes.

"Promise me," she said, her voice going hard as ice. "Promise me that you boys mean no harm and if I were to ever turn my back on you, you won't stab it."

"I promise," he said, swallowing. She really was beautiful the way her eyes glinted as she stared at him so threateningly and the way the sun shone on her hair.

"Do you three also promise?" She asked, looking at the others.

They nodded.

"Say it," she snapped, "out loud."

"We promise," they all said.

She seemed to relax but only slightly. She looked down at Niall, lying on his side in the grass. "I'll have him promise when he wakes up. Pick him up and follow me."

She shoved her weapons into holsters attached to the belt at her waist, walking briskly around to the front of mansion. The boys scrambled to pick Niall up and, between the four of them, carry him. Every so often, the girl would glanced over her shoulder at them with an unsure expression on her face. Harry guessed that this was the first test on whether they'd keep their promise to not stab her in the back. Harry saw no reason to harm anyone and didn't really understand the aggression that some people had towards others. Yes, the world was falling apart and in chaos but just because there were undead people walking around didn't mean that it was okay to act like fucking animals.

They followed the girl through the front door, which she didn't even stop to unlock, and found them shelves in a large grand entrance. Their footsteps echoed loudly on the polished marble floor. To their right was a doorway leading into a large room with a lot paintings hung on the wall. To their left was a set of dark hard wood double doors. In front of them was a grand stair case that split into two before it reached the first floor. Between the two stairs was long dark hallway.

It was down this hallway that the girl led them. There were doors on either side along with a couple of paintings of dark and dreary landscapes. They didn't have enough time to look at their surroundings as the girl led them in a strange winding path. Harry tried to keep track of where they were going just in case he might need to know it. But it was very dizzying and he soon lost all sense of direction. He wondered if that's why the girl was leading them in this way. So they'd get lost if they tried to leave. The thought was unsettling.

Finally, she stopped in front of a door and unlocked it with a skeleton key that she produced from her pocket.

"In here," she instructed, holding the door open. She waited 'til they had carried him in before closing the door. Harry stole a glance back at her and was relieved that she hadn't locked them in.

The room had a big nicely made queen sized bed on one side of the room with a nightstand that had a lamp was sitting on it. There was a large wooden dresser along the wall on the other side. There was also another door beside the dresser. Since it was a fairly large room it didn't feel cramped even with so many people in it.

"Lay your friend on the bed," And when they had done as they were told the girl pointed at Zayn. "You," She said, before pointing to the other door. "Go grab a washrag from the little closet in there and get it wet with some cold water."

Zayn nodded mutely, and she turned her attention to Niall. "What exactly happened?" she asked, as went around the bed and sat down beside his injured foot.

"We were running up the hill to gate and he tripped," Harry said, watching her movements intently. "His foot went in an odd angle."

She nodded as she gently touched and poked at the foot 'causing Niall to moan pitifully.

"Is he waking up?" Liam asked, fidgeting nervously.

"No," the girl shook her head. "He's still passed out. The pain was probably too much for him. Someone give me help out real quick."

Harry stepped up as she pulled Niall into a sitting position. It was scary the way he moved as limp as a rag doll. She instructed Harry to sit on the bed behind him and to put his arms around Niall's waist.

"Now hold on tight to him," she said, kneeling by his injured foot.

"What are you gonna do?" Harry asked, concerned.

"His ankle is out of socket," she said, taking a deep steadying breath. "I'm gonna have to yank on it to get to pop back into place."

"Is it gonna hurt him?"

She didn't answer.

"I got the rag," Zayn said, walking over to the bed. He gave Harry a weird look.

Harry was about to say something when suddenly the girl gave a sharp tug on Niall's foot.

"AH!" Niall screamed.

"Well, he was passed out," Louis commented, his arms crossed over his chest not in the least bit disturbed.

"Shh," Harry shushed, brushing Niall's blonde hair back soothingly.

"What is she doing to him?!" Zayn shrieked, terrified.

"I'm trying to get his ankle back in the socket if you don't mind," the girl snapped. "Why don't you make yourself useful and give the rag to Curly over there."

"My name's Harry," Harry said, taking the rag from Zayn and dabbing the sweat off of Niall's forehead.

"Whatever," she said, taking another deep breath as she readied to yank on Niall's foot again.

"I can't watch this," Liam said, looking a little green. He quickly walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

"Harry?" Niall asked, weakly peeking up through his eyelids. "What's going on?"

"Sh, it's okay," Harry murmured. "We're trying to fix you ankle."

"Oh," his eyes fluttered and Harry thought that he passed out again but then he said in his thick Irish accent. "It hurts."

"I know," Harry whispered back. "We're gonna make it stop."

"You," the girl said pointing.

"My name's Zayn," Zayn muttered.

"Whatever, Zack," She said, rolling her eyes. "Get another rag wet and make sure to wring it out really good."

He sighed and went over the bathroom door. It was locked. He knocked and, at Liam's reply, told him what he needed to get. The door opened slightly as Liam handed it out to him then it closed again.

"Here you go," Zayn said, holding out the rag unceremoniously.

"Curly, roll this up and have your friend put it in his mouth," she said.

"Why?" Harry asked, frowning in confusion.

"So, he can have something to bite down on when I pull on his foot again," she explained impatiently. "It'll help him to deal with the pain. If I had any pain killers, I'd use them."

Harry stared at her moment. Even though, she tried to act indifferent, she seemed to care. She actually cared about helping Niall and didn't, apparently, like having to hurt him.

"Niall," Harry said, rolling up the rag, "you need to put this in your mouth."

"What is it?" he mumbled barely audible.

"It would be easier if you just pretend its food," Louis said. For some reason, he looked oddly amused by the current situation.

The girl eyed him warily, like she could tell that something wasn't quite right with him.

"It's a rag," Harry said, answering Niall's question. "It'll help you deal with the pain."

"I don't get it."

"Just open up so I can put it in your mouth."

"Okay."

"Are we ready?" The girl asked, looking Harry dead in the eyes.

He nodded, and wrapped his arms tight around Niall.

She looked over at Zayn and Louis. "If you two want," she said, the corner of her lip twitching from what might have been humor. "You can go join your friend in the bathroom."

"I'm good," Lou said, nodding.

Zayn said nothing, and just stared down at Niall.

"Suite yourself," she muttered, shrugging.

This time when she yanked on his foot, there was an audible pop. Niall cried out as he dug his teeth into the rag in his mouth. Some water leaked from it and went down his chin. Harry stared at him worriedly when he suddenly went limp, his eyes closed.

"Is he gonna be okay now?" Harry asked, wiping the damp rag in his hand on Niall's forehead.

She tenderly touched and shifted Niall's foot. His only reaction was to wrinkle his nose in his sleep and groan quietly. She set his foot back on the bed.

"He should be fine now," she said, wiping her hands on her blue jeans. "He'll be sore when he wakes up but he'll be able to be up and about in a day or two. A week at the most."

Harry let out the breath that hadn't even known he'd been holding. "That's good to know."

The bathroom door opened and Liam poked his head out. "Are you done hurting Niall?"

"Yes," she sighed getting off the bed. "Right now he just needs rest."

"Oh, good," Liam visibly relaxed along with Zayn. Louis had already been relaxed so it was hard to tell if he was relieved or not.

"You boys will need to come with me," she said, heading towards the door.

"Why?" Harry asked as he gently laid Niall's head onto the pillows.

"I'm gonna show you to the rooms where you'll be staying 'til your friends gets better," she said, frowning at them.

Liam, Louis, and Zayn made a move to follow her but Harry stopped them. It surprised him that he was being the cautious one now. "Wait," he said, holding his hand out to try and keep them back, "you'd let us stay 'til then?"

"Yes," her frown deepened like she was trying to figure out where he was going with this.

"Why?"

Her expression relaxed as she stared out past them, through the large window.

"Because you guys are the first living people I've seen in months," she said, her voice sounding strangely distant like she wasn't talking to them. Suddenly, her whole demeanor changed. She glared at them. "Do you not want to stay 'til your friend's healed? Or do want me to kick you all out right now?"

"Shut up," Zayn snapped, elbowing Harry in the ribs. "And stop making things worse.

"Let's just stay 'til Niall's able to walk again, okay?" Liam said, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Fine," he murmured mostly to himself. He followed them out the door after the girl. Before he closed the door to Niall's room, he glanced back at his sleeping friend. In that moment, he prayed that whatever happened this wouldn't be the last time he saw his friend alive and breathing.


	5. Safe. . . ?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys find themselves seperated

"So," Liam said as they followed the girl down a long hallway with paintings of various people hanging on the wall, "have you always lived here or are you just taking refuge here?"

She shrugged. "It has always been in my family and it always will."

"Are you staying in this house alone?"

"What makes you think I'm alone?" she replied.

"I, uh. . ." Liam looked uncomfortable.

Hmm, what if there are more people in this house? Harry wondered. 

"Are there more people?" Zayn asked.

She didn't respond. She just stopped, unlocked a door, and held it open. "Zack, this is your room," she said, gesturing. 

"I've told you, it's Zayn," he snapped, glaring at her.

"And I've told you," she said not in the least bit fazed, "I don't care."

He grumbled under his breath and was about to go in when Harry said, "Wait."

"What now?" Zayn asked exasperated.

"What are you gonna once we're in our rooms?" Harry asked, ignoring Zayn as he stared at the girl.

"I'm gonna lock you in," she said as a matter-of-fact. At their protest, she held her hands up to silence them.

"I'm going give you boys time freshen up and then I'll let you out again when it's dinner time," she continued. "I don't trust you enough to let you buys wander the house unaccompanied. Also, you must be very hungry and tired."

"Is that all?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Yes," she said, staring steadily into his eyes. "But after you've eaten, I'm gonna lock you boys in again for the night."

"Then let us out again in morning?" Liam asked.

"Yes,"

"Damn," Louis said, hands shoved into his pockets. "I feel like a cat. You let it out in the morning and back then let it back in at night."

She snorted. "Think of it more as my form of self preservation," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "If you can prove yourselves trustworthy then I'll stop locking you up."

"What about our backpacks that we left outside?" Harry asked, crossing his arms. He didn't want to have to go scrounging around for packs and supplies when they finally had to leave this place. 

"They will be confiscated," she replied, shrugging, "and returned to each of you when you leave here. Again, it's just another form of self preservation." 

Harry was doubtful. But in this he was alone.

"It sounds cool with me," Zayn said, stepping into the room. He didn't even glance back as she closed the door and locked it.

She walked down the hall until she came to next door.

"Oh, great," Lou said. "At least, we'll all be along the same hallway."

"This is yours," she pointed to Louis.

"My name's Louis," he said, going into the room.

"Whatever, Lewis," 

"Lou-ee," he said as she closed the door in his face.

She pointed at Liam, "You're in the next one."

"My name's Liam,"

"Ian. Got it." 

He went into the room and she shut him in.

"Curly," she said holding the next door open and looking at him bemused.

He said nothing as he walked past her into the room, looking around him. It was much the same as Niall's room. He turned around to face her.

"What?" she asked, faking shock. "You're not gonna tell me your name also?"

He shook his head. "You go first."

"Why would you want to know my name?"

He shrugged. "Something to call you, I guess."

She stared at him, contemplating. "You can call me Paris," she said eventually.

"Is that your name?" 

"No," she shook her head, the corner of her lip twitching. "You just wanted something to call me." Harry couldn't believe it, she was actually laughing at him. Kinda.

"Paris," he said, staring at her blue eyes with wonder. "Okay, I'm—"

"Harry," she smirked as she closed the door on him. He stared at it until h heard the faint click of the lock. He couldn't help but notice that she had actually said his name right. 

"What are you getting yourself into this time, Harry?" he asked out loud to no one but himself. 

With a sigh, he sat down at the foot of the bed as a wave of exhaustion over took him suddenly. Today had been a very long day. One day of many long unending days. He fell back, closing his eyes. The bed was softest thing he had lain on ever since this whole crisis started. It was heavenly. 

His body wanted to rest but his mind, however, wanted him to keep moving. Not safe, it said over and over again, not safe. He opened his eyes, stared at the ceiling, then rolled over. Something in his pocket made a crunching sound. He rolled over and yanked whatever was causing the noise out. He stared. It was a piece of folded construction paper with a drawing done in red crayon on it.


	6. Flashback

"Harry, look what I made you,"

Harry looked up to see Susie handing him a folded piece of paper.

"What is it?" he asked, turning it around in his hands. 

"You'll have to unfold it and find out," she smiled, clasping her hands behind her back. Her eyes were alight as she watched him but they were also a little red from crying. The airport was less busy now and she was hanging out now with him and guys. She said she was scared and hanging out with them made her feel safe. It also pulled her away from whatever was happening with her mom. Apparently she was gonna be transported to hospital out of the country. 

When he unfolded the paper he saw drawn on it were two stick figures. One was really tall with scribbles for hair and the other was really short with long hair and was wearing a dress. They were holding and in the corner of page there were three words written in large messy child's handwriting. The words were 'I love you'.

Wow. . . Harry bit his lip as he stared down at the picture, taking it all in.

"Hey, you okay, Hazza?"Liam asked, his brow creased with concern.

He tried his best to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat before answering. "I'm fine."

"Do you like it?" Susie asked, looking worried like she had done something wrong.

"I love it," he couldn't think of what else to say or do so he pulled her into a hug. "It's beautiful."

She grinned shyly as she buried her head against his chest.

"Can I see it?" Louis asked.

"No," Harry said automatically, putting into his pants pocket for safe keeping.

"Well, then, Susie, can you draw me one too?" Louis asked, putting his hands together like he was begging.

"Un. . . Okay," Susie said, sitting down on the floor where her crayons and paper were.

Niall sat down beside her. "Can I draw with you?" he asked.

"Here," she said, handing him a piece of paper. "You can have the pink crayon."

"Okay," he chuckled uneasily.

"What's taking our flight so long?" Zayn asked impatiently. "Look, it's getting really dark outside."

"I have no idea," Liam yawned, slouching low in his seat. "I'm beginning to get sleepy."


	7. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys meet someone new, have dinner, tell a funny story, then go to bed.

The next thing Harry knew there was the sound of knocking on the door. He jerked awake, gasping. He looked around franticly before he finally remembered where he was. He put his head into his hands, breathing heavily. Not in the airport. 

"Yes?" he called in response to the knocking.

It opened and Paris walked in. "Oh, good, you're awake," she said. "I told you that I'd be back when dinner was ready. Hungry?"

He nodded. "Famished."

"Good," she said, turning on her heels. "Come with me."

He followed and found a half asleep Louis and Zayn waiting in the hall. "Where's Liam?" he asked.

"Asleep," Paris said, looking a little irritated. "That particular friend of yours is really violent."

"He threw a pillow at her," Louis explained with his creepy Cheshire cat grin.

"I warned her not to try and wake him," Zayn said, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"Are you boys coming or not?" Paris asked impatiently, hands on her hips and tapping her foot.

"Coming," 

"How are your rooms?" Louis asked. "Mine has a huge bath tub in the bathroom"

"Same," Zayn said.

"Harry?"

"I didn't go into the bathroom," 

"Oh. . ." Louis stepped away.

"What?"

"You still stink."

"I was wondering something," Zayn interjected, "why does this place still have running water?"

"Because," Paris said, apparently listening in on their conversation, "unlike most other places this house gets water by pumping it from underground."

"Really?" Zayn asked, intrigued.

"Yep,"

"That's cool,"

"How does it heat the water?" Louis asked.

"Electricity," she shot him a look over her shoulder like 'duh'.

"Where does the electricity come from?" Harry asked, frowning. "Electricity went down almost two days after everything started going crazy."

"A generator," she replied, shrugging.

"Must be a big generator," he said, tilting his head sideways as he watched her walk. She had a very nice almost elegant stride. It reminded him of the way a model would walk down a runway.

Louis elbowed him, smirking. Harry stopped staring at her, instead deciding to look at all the strange paintings on the walls. He had a vague feeling that they were walking down the same way they had when they had earlier. Some of the paintings looked familiar.

"Who are the people that are in the paintings?" Liam asked.

"Relatives, I think," she replied, heading over to the double doors. 

They suddenly left the hall and found themselves in the grand entrance room. Yep, they had walked back the way they had come earlier that day. Was this really still just that same day?

Paris, apparently, was not the only person living in the mansion. Her cook, Kara, also lived there. Kara was a sweet dark skinned woman in her late thirties or early forties. It was hard to tell her age based on her appearance. Aside from laugh wrinkles beside her large fawn brown eyes and mouth, she didn't look old. She reminded Harry of a mother hen the way she went around keeping everybody's plates and cups full.

She liked to talk and laugh but it seemed to either annoy or embarrass Paris the way she rambled on about everything. 

"Kara," she would hiss at her sternly. "They don't need to know that kind of information."

But Kara would just chuckle and reply, "You'll never trust them if you don't test them every now and then. Give them something to prove themselves trustworthy with."

Kara, apparently, hadn't seen much of what the world was like now outside the mansion. She felt no need to go out and see it for herself. Harry couldn't blame her. 

The kitchen was huge and had been freshly stocked when things had suddenly taken a turn for the worst. From what Kara said, there was a large cold cellar under the house. So there was plenty of food to go around. It was shocking to see.

Niall would be in heaven, Harry thought as he and the lads dug into their shepherd's pie consisting of potatoes, various other vegetables, and stew meat. Kara was Irish and she talked and cooked like one too. Niall would be reminded of home. 

Harry swallowed but found it difficult because of the lump in his throat. 

Home was something none of them had allowed themselves much time to think about. They had tried a couple of times to go search for their families and loved ones in the city. The airport they had been in was on the out skirts of London but the last time they tried to get into the city they had barely made it out of there alive. 

"Aye, I'd say you poor lads are quite starved," Kara said in her heavy Irish accent for about the tenth time. She heaped more food onto Zayn's plate without him even having to ask.

Zayn nodded his head, digging in. "This is the best thing since canned cat food."

Louis busted up laughing.

"Cat food?" Kara asked in stunned disbelief.

"That's gross," Paris said, crossing her arms over chest as she stared at Zayn. 

"That was all we had to eat once Niall's supply of Oreos and granola bars ran out," Zayn shrugged.

Paris snorted. "How could that be the only thing you had to eat? Didn't you look through any of the abandoned houses for food?"

"We did," Harry said, around a mouthful. "All the ones we searched through, during the time of this particular incident, had been picked clean of all things edible."

"Watching Zayn eat cat food was priceless," Louis said, chuckling.

"We founded a box of it in one of the abandoned houses," Zayn said, shooting him a look.

"And Zayn drew the short straw to be the first to try eating it," Louis grinned back at him.

"Aw, you poor thing," said Kara, putting her hand on Zayn's shoulder. He pouted.

"What happened when you ate it?" Paris asked, shooting Kara an exasperated look. 

"You should have seen his face!" Louis said loudly, nearly falling out of his seat laughing. "He looked like he just ate a lemon the way his face puckered and twisted up."

Zayn, doing his best to ignore Louis, said, "It tasted awful at first then it kinda sorta didn't taste too—"

"Hey, mates," Louis said, mimicking Zayn's voice. "This cat food actually tastes pretty good. Want a bite?" He mimed eating from a can then laughed so hard that he fell backwards onto the floor.

Kara chuckled a little and Paris stared at where he'd been sitting like he was insane. You have no idea, Harry thought as he watched her expression turn suspicious but also thoughtful.

"What happened after you ate the cat food, Zayn?" Kara asked, genuinely curious. 

"We ended up having to stay in the house a little longer than we had originally planned," Zayn replied, vaguely. He looked thoroughly embarrassed.

"It didn't sit very well with him," Harry said, the corner of his lip curling up in a grimace. Dealing with a sick Zayn had not been fun for any of them, except, maybe, Louis. 

Something had been seriously wrong with him since the airport. But Harry couldn't blame Paris for the way she watched Louis warily like he was a ticking time bomb. Watching the way he was now, one seriously had to question his mental stability. Something happened to him in the airport. Something awful.

After they had eaten, Paris led them all back to their rooms and locked them in for the night. Harry decided it would be best to take a bath before he crawled into bed. He didn't linger too long in the tub, though. It felt nice and warm but it was soon darkened with all the dirt and blood that had been clinging to him. He really didn't want to think about where it had all come from. It wasn't even his blood. 

Once dried, he wrapped the towel around his waist, digging through the dresser drawers out of curiosity. He found a couple of clean shirts, sweats, loose cotton pants, and flannel pajamas. He thought about putting the PJs on but thought that they'd probably be too warm and decided against it. He usually preferred to sleep naked anyway.

He crawled into bed and laid there with one arm behind his head and the other resting on his bare stomach, which lifted up and down with his steady breathing.

He stared up at the ceiling. Okay, sleep where are you? Now that he was ready and wanting to sleep, it evaded him. He was completely relaxed and felt much better now that he was actually clean for the first time in who knows how long. And yet, sleep refused to embrace him. He rolled onto his side, wrapping his arms around one of the many pillows. He sighed, closing his eyes, as he snuggled with the pillow. That's much better, he thought. But still there was no sign of sleep. Instead, his mind tugged at him, trying to bring up painful memories. He began to hum to distract himself from his thoughts. Eventually, he fell asleep but that night he had a nightmare.


End file.
